Squishably Soft
by Michelle
Summary: It's Halloween Night (in the story anyway) and Ezra remembers his Halloween 23 years ago.


**Disclaimer:** Nope, don't own them, but the moment Trilogy and all else who do, feel like forking the rights over, they know who to call. (No, not Ghostbusters! And not He-man either!) 

**Rating:** Don't get much more PG than this one. 

**Archive:** Yes please, just let me know where if you want it. 

**AU:** ATF 

**Author's Note:** Okay, I don't care, or know, if Denver doesn't have trees. For the sake of this fic, it does. Just because. Poetic liscense and all that good happy stuff. And uh, well, I'm quite proud of the title. It's funny. *t-hee*. (Okay Michelle, get over yourself.) Oh, and this was written in response to Sue's challenge. I'm glad you issued it! 

# 

Squishably Soft

_October 31, 2000_

Another October come to a close. The brightly colored leaves, some still aloft in the branches, made for a patchwork of color across the roads and yards of Denver. 

It was also Ezra Standish's favorite time of the year. Maybe it was because Halloween lent itself to a bit more freedom, hiding behind a mask. Or maybe it was because he could pretend he was someone else, someone with a real home; someone with a real mother. 

Then again, it might just be eating candy until he vomitted. 

In any event, he never failed to go all out for the holiday, no matter where he was. In New York, he visited children's hospital's with loads of chocolate and books for the sicker children. In Atlanta, he helped his FBI division set up a Fun Fair. And here, in Denver, he invited his six teammates over to watch some football and hand out candy to the trick-or treaters. A bowl, filled to overflowing with Snickers, Tootsie Rolls and other sugary confections, sat on the coffee table in his living room, where the seven men had assembled by default hours before. 

Now, if he could only get Vin and JD from eating all of it. The carpet was literally covered in cellophane wrappers. 

DING DONG!!! 

Ezra smiled and wrenched the plastic bowl from Buck before heading out to the door, opening it to a rousing cry of "Trick-or-Treat!" 

"Well, what have we here?" Ezra exclaimed, and then pretended to be frightened. "Ooh, a dragon! Truly horrifing I assure you!" 

A little by, perhaps three years old, giggled when Ezra pinched one felt ear of his green costume. 

Vin and Nathan joined him at the door, making similar comments about the half dozen other children outside Ezra's front door. 

Ezra doled out large handfulls of candy to each child, while Nathan warned them to floss their teeth. He shut the door as the kids bounded down the steps. 

And Vin, before Ezra could react, grabbed the candy bowl from Ezra, and made a mad dash for the living room, Ezra hot on his heels. 

"JD! Hit the jackpot!" vin exclaimed, avoiding Josiah's outstetched feet with a hop. 

Vin found JD leafing through an old, red picture album. He looked up a bit as Vin came flying into the room and tossed the candy at him. JD laughed as he caught a piece of generic gum. 

Vin set the bowl on the table in the center of the room as he flopped down on the leather couch beside Chris. Ezra, as quick as Vin to give up the chase, immediately noticed what JD was reading. 

"Oh, I hope you don't mind, Ez. It was laying out." JD motioned at the open book on his lap. 

Of course it was out, Ezra thought, I was looking at the thing earlier and forgot to put it away. He cursed his memory. The picture album held all his most precious childhood memories, and he wasn't certain he wanted to share any of them. 

"Aww, look at little Ezzy-kins. He was so cute!" Buck said looking over JD's shoulder at a picture of two boys, one dressed as a cowboy and the other, Buck surmised, a gambler, no more than ten and twelver years old. 

JD snorted. "Yeah. With that roll of toilet paper. Wonder what they were doing! And WHAT are you wearing Ezra!" 

The picture in question, however, came loose and flutterd to the ground, landing by Vin's feet. The sharpshooter bent to pick it up, but just as he was handing it back to Ezra, he did a double take. The one boy, obviously Ezra, had his arm slung around a smaller, younger, and much more familiar looking boy in a cowboy hat. 

***

_October 31, 1977_

A young boy walked uncomfortably in the too-small, hand-me-down cowboy boots. But he was glad to be out that night. None of his other foster families had ever let him go trick-or-treating before. 

The brown jacket he wore and red hankerchief, were a bit rough, but he didn't mind. Nor did he mind the fact that his jeans were nearly in tatters. Nope, all that mattered to him was that he was outdoors after dark, by himself, and wearing the tan wide-brimmed cowboy hat Mr. Bonner lent him with a, "Take good care of it, young man." 

The boy walked along from house to house, not really minding the lonliness too much, and besides, he was more than used to it by now. 

The cowboy came to a white house as a boy, a few years older than him came racing down steep front steps, decked out in a red suit jacket, expensive looking pants and a gold colored waistcoat, and smacked directly into the cowboy. 

Candy flew everywhere. 

As did a roll of snow white toilet paper. 

"Aww, hell." the pre-teen's squeaky voice was colored by a southern accent. The southerner helped the smaller boy to his feet. "You okay?" 

"Yup." the cowboy began to pick up his candy, not quite sure if the older boy meant what he was asking or if he was gong to take all his candy. And then, miracle of all miracles, the older boy helped him pick up his scattered sweets. 

"Thanks." he said, and took a closer look at the boy in front of him. "What are you supposed to be anyway?" 

"A gambler." the boy looked a bit offronted that his costume wasn't easily recognized, but shook it off as quickly as he gained it. 

"Cool. I'm a cowboy." 

"I can see that." then as if struck by and idea, the gambler continued. "Ever toilet papered someone's house before?" 

***

The two boys grinned brightly at the camera as the falsh went off, blinding them both for a moment. The girl, who seemed to be an acquaintance of the gambler, handed him the Polaroid before skipping off to get more candy. 

The older boy shook the photo in an pointless effort to get it developed faster. 

Before the cowboy could see the picture, a truck pulled up. It was Mr. Bonner's. 

"Hey, that you there?" an older man's voice called out. "Are you ready?" 

The cowboy looked at his friend of less than an hour. He handed the end of the roll back to the gambler. "Well, see you." 

The gambler waved, looking a little sad, as the cowboy raced over to the blue pick-up. 

"See you." The gambler waved at the young boy as the pick-up sped away. 

And then, he went in search of some eggs. 

***

_October 31, 2000_

Ezra grinned as he remembered the night that picture was taken. 

"So who's the other kid? Old friend of yours?" Chris asked, curios by the smile that hung on both Vin's and Ezra's lips. 

"No, I never did learn his name..." Then Ezra noticed how much the little boy looked like Vin. He met the sharpshooter's eyes, shock apparent in his own. 

DING DONG!!! 

"I'll get theis one!" JD called. Buck, of course, follwed the boy out with the candy bowl. And in the rush, everyone forgot about the picture. 

Except the gambler and the cowboy. 

The End

  


# Happy Halloween!!!

  
  
  


_I do apologize for the over-used cliches, but i wrote the thing in about an hour, and well, what can I say? If I hadn't done it now, I probably wouldn't have. So I did, Hope everyone liked it. _

Want more Ezra Fic? Then visit [Michelle's Fan Fiction][1] Page. 

   [1]: http://www.geocities.com/michellestandish



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